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C−History
History · Somerset

Somerset’s post office opened in 1856

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #327 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it

Most of Somerset was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Below: maps from 1948 on and the census since 1880.

1856first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Somerset began

When was Somerset founded?

1856

The Somerset post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 77 in 18802020 census: 3,019170 years

How historic is Somerset?

C−

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Somerset post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Somerset’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Somerset is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #327 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Somerset’s overall grade.
Founding era1856, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.2% of homes (±3.7) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical WI town 3.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 22%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 10%

Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Somerset’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Somerset’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Somerset are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Somerset’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Somerset’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Somerset came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Somerset.

Read it all →

Somerset was named by General Samuel Harriman after his father's home of Somerset, England. Somerset has a lengthy and colorful history. Before the turn of the century Somerset was bordered on the south by cranberry bogs. The terrain naturally lent itself to the production of cranberries as a result of the hilliness of the area, which is dotted with ponds, sloughs, swamps and bogs. These wet areas became of greater interest to the local population during Prohibition. These same low spots where water collected became ideal for collecting water for the production of moonshine (homemade alcoholic beverages). Indeed, Somerset already had a history of being a rough logging town, and it was only a natural progression to become the supplier of bootlegged alcohol to the twin cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. After Prohibition ended, the citizens of Somerset returned to the more humble acti…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Somerset, 1856 to 1990

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe Somerset post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1986Born hereMichael Schachtner is born here
  6. 1990Born hereSam Lofquist is born here
By decade

Somerset, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Somerset, Wisconsin2024Somerset, WisconsinSomerset, United States (Unsplash)2017Somerset, United States (Unsplash)Somerset, United States (Unsplash ecbje2l9xM)2017Somerset, United States (Unsplash ecbje2l9xM)NPS saint-croix-river-map-9-high-bridge2016NPS saint-croix-river-map-9-high-bridgeMapWIMap-doton-Somerset2005WIMap-doton-Somerset
On the map

Somerset on the map in 1948

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Somerset.

Somerset on the 1948 USGS map1948New Richmond sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Somerset.

People over time

Somerset, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,000188019001920194019601980200020203,019

Grew from 77 people in 1880 to 3,019 in 2020, more than tenfold.

12 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Somerset’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Somerset

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
S
Sam LofquistAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1990
M
Michael SchachtnerAmerican basketball player · b. 1986

Questions about Somerset’s history

What year was Somerset founded?

The Somerset post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Somerset rank for history?

Somerset is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #327 of 362 in Wisconsin. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Somerset?

5% of Somerset’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 2002.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.